1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording sheet containing package, containing a recording sheet for use in a recording apparatus, more specifically a printing apparatus for printing an image, taken as an electronic information by a still camera for obtaining a still image or a video camera and fetched through a computer or directly from a recording medium.
2. Related Background Art
An ink jet printer, for forming a record by discharging an ink droplet and depositing it on a recording medium, is already known as an apparatus capable of a high definition image recording close to a photographic quality based on image information obtained by an image pickup equipment. On the other hand, equipment for obtaining image information usable in the printing apparatus, such as a digital camera, a digital video camera or a scanner, has shown a significant progress in recent years. Therefore, a printing apparatus of thermal transfer type is also attracting attention. In such printing apparatus of thermal transfer type, there is known a printer of a line thermal transfer type which utilizes a thermo-sensitive paper for the printing paper and in which plural heat generating elements arrayed in a main scanning direction, crossing a sub scanning direction, are selectively driven to form a print by a dot line in succession, while such paper is conveyed in the sub scanning direction.
The printer of such thermal transfer type is attracting attention as an output apparatus for an image taken by an image pickup device for the following reason. In the ink jet printer, a pixel is usually formed in a binary manner by whether a liquid droplet is discharged or not, so that improvements in the apparent resolution and the gradation are achieved by depositing small liquid droplets on the paper and utilizing the error diffusion method or the like, while the printer of thermal transfer type can relatively easily obtain a larger number of gradation levels within a pixel by controlling the heat generation in plural levels in forming a pixel, whereby a smoother image of higher quality in comparison with the case of ink jet printer can be easily realized. Also since the performances of the thermal head and the sheet material are showing progress as if matching the recent progress in digital cameras, it is now made possible to obtain a print image comparable to a silver halide-based photograph in quality, so that the printer of thermal transfer type is attracting attention as a printer particularly for a natural image.
Therefore, there is commercialized a system in which such printing apparatus and an image pickup device such as a digital camera or a digital video camera are directly connected or are integrally constructed and the obtained image information can be printed without going through another information processing equipment such as a computer. Such system is extremely convenient in that an image taken by the digital camera or the digital video camera can be immediately and easily printed.
In using such printing apparatus as an image output apparatus for an image pickup device such as a digital camera, since the image pickup device is utilized as a mobile equipment, the printer apparatus is also required to be mobile by the consumers, and a compactness and a lighter weight are therefore necessary.
Prior technology for size reduction and reduction of components in such printing apparatus is disclosed for example in Japanese Patent Application Ladi-open No. 2001-151423. More specifically, this reference discloses a sheet feeding-discharging mechanism in such printing apparatus, including a conveying roller which is capable of conveying a recording medium in a direction toward printing means, and of which rotation enables a sheet feeding operation of feeding the recording medium in a conveying direction toward the printing means at a printing operation and a sheet discharging operation of reversing the recording medium after the printing in a direction opposite to the conveying direction and discharging thus reversed recording medium. In contrast to an ordinary sheet feeding-discharging mechanism of the printer, usually including two rollers, namely a sheet feeding roller and a sheet discharging roller, this technology can achieve sheet feeding and sheet discharging only with a conveying roller, thereby allowing to reduce the number of components and very effective in realizing a compact printer.
Also Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-260471 discloses a technology on compactization of the printing apparatus. More specifically, this reference discloses a printing apparatus including a control board provided at a bottom side of the printing apparatus and executing at least either of a sheet feeding control and an ink ribbon feeding control, a power board provided at a lateral side of the printing apparatus and connected to battery terminals, and connection means for electrically connecting the control board and the power board, wherein the control board and the power board are mutually connected by an end of the control board and an end of the power board and thus connected boards are mounted in substantially L-shape close to an outer casing of the printing apparatus. This configuration allows to reduce the mounting area of the board by improving a mounting form and an arrangement of the circuit board including circuits necessary for the printing operation, and such technology is very effective in achieving a compact configuration of the printing apparatus.
However, such prior technologies as explained above alone are unable to meet the recent requirement for compact configuration, and also unable to provide a sufficient solution to other requirements for the printing apparatus such as a lower cost and a higher printing speed, and further improvements have therefore been desired for the technologies on such printing apparatus.
Now, let us consider a recording sheet to be used in such printing apparatus. In an ink jet printing apparatus or a copying apparatus, a plain paper can also be used as the recording sheet, and it is common that the user takes out a bundle of a necessary number of such recording sheets from a container of the paper and sets such bundle in a recording sheet tray of the printing apparatus.
On the other hand, a printing apparatus of sublimation or fusion thermal transfer type generally utilizes an exclusive recording sheet. Also in this case, it is common that the user takes out a bundle of a necessary number of such recording sheets from a container of the paper and sets such bundle in a recording sheet tray of the printing apparatus, or inserts the paper manually one by one into the apparatus.
Such method is associated with a drawback that the user is required to execute a cumbersome operation of setting the recording sheet in the recording sheet tray. Particularly in case of an exclusive recording sheet for use in a printing apparatus of thermal transfer type, there also result drawbacks that a manual contact with the recording sheet at the setting operation may lead to a defective printing and that an unused recording sheet set on the recording sheet tray may be smeared with dusts in case of a prolonged standing. Also in a product so designed by the manufacturer to provide a satisfactory print quality in an optimum combination of a recording sheet and an ink ribbon or a liquid ink, since the user may utilize another recording sheet, a recording sheet of inferior quality provided by a third party may be used to result in a deterioration in the print quality or in a sheet jamming in a worst case.
In order to cope with such drawbacks, various proposals are made for a printing apparatus and a recording sheet-containing package in which the recording sheet is supplied as a recording sheet containing package in a state set on a recording sheet tray and such package is directly mounted in a main body of the apparatus.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-213531 discloses technology on a recording liquid/recording sheet container, a recording sheet supply apparatus and a recording apparatus equipped therewith. The recording liquid/recording sheet container disclosed therein includes a case body portion to be detachably provided in a conveying mechanism constituting portion for conveying a recording sheet toward a recording part which executes a recording operation with a recording liquid on a recording surface of the recording sheet, a recording sheet container portion formed in the main body portion and containing the recording sheet, and a liquid container portion containing the liquid, and is so configured that the recording sheet taken out from the recording sheet container portion is discharged by a conveying force, outputted from the conveying mechanism constituting portion and acting on the recording sheet through a recording sheet discharge aperture formed on the case body portion.
Also Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-254700 discloses technology on an ink jet recording apparatus and a media cartridge. This reference discloses an ink jet recording apparatus including an ink jet head for printing by ink discharge on a recording medium, an ink tank for ink supply to the ink jet head, and a cassette portion for stacking recording media, wherein the cassette portion for stacking the recording media and the ink tank constitute a cartridge mounted on a same cassette portion and such cartridge is detachably mounted on the recording apparatus.
Also Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-41550 discloses technology on an image pickup apparatus with a printer and a cartridge unit. This reference discloses an image pickup apparatus with a printer including at least image pickup means for converting an optical image of an object field to be taken into an electronic image signal, and a printing apparatus for a visible print output of the electronic image signal, taken by the image pickup means, on a recording sheet, wherein a body of the image pickup apparatus with printer is so configured that a cartridge unit incorporating a print material can be detachably mounted, and includes attach/detachment detection means for detecting an attaching or a detaching of the cartridge unit and control means for controlling the operation mode, according to an attached or detached state of the cartridge unit detected by the attach/detachment detection means, so as to assume a print mode in the attached state or a camera mode in the detached state. This reference also discloses an image pickup apparatus with a printer, incorporating a printing apparatus of ink jet recording method, therein the apparatus includes a cartridge unit containing a cartridge body to be detachably mounted on a body of the apparatus, an ink tank containing ink of at least a color and a recording sheet for printing, and attachment detecting means is so configured that the supply of the ink and the recording sheet is executed when the cartridge unit is mounted on the body of the apparatus.
These prior technologies can contribute to the convenience of handling, since the user is not required to execute an operation of directly setting the recording sheet in the recording apparatus. However, the recording sheet containing package such as the recording liquid/recording sheet container, the media cartridge or the cartridge unit has excessively many components, therefore insufficient particularly in the cost, and is often not utilized widely for this reason. Also the recording sheet containing package of the prior technologies often becomes bulky because of the excessively many components, and such configuration is disadvantageous for realizing a mobile printer.
Also in the prior technologies, although the recording sheet containing package has to be replaced when all the containing recording sheets are exhausted and are therefore to be replaced relatively frequently, it is not clarified how such package should be disposed of after the use. A recording sheet containing package with many component parts is undesirable even for discarding as garbage, also requires a high recycling cost even in case such component parts are recycled. Further, the component parts constituting the recording sheet containing package are often constituted of plastic materials, requiring a post process requiring sufficient attention to the environment, such as burning in a satisfactory facility not generating toxic gases.
As explained in the foregoing, the prior technologies have been unable to provide a recording sheet containing package, convenient for use by the user and enabling disposal after use with sufficient attention to the environment.